Requiem (Mozart)

In July 1791, Mozart received an unusual order: an unknown envoy in black came to his house, and on conditions of secrecy made an order for the requiem mass - Requiem. Mozart agreed to work, and received an advance, according to various sources, 50 or 100 ducats . Mozart should have received the same amount at the end of the work ^[1] .

Perhaps the most recent lifetime portrait of Mozart, painted in 1790 in Munich. Artist Johann Georg Edlinger

As it turned out later, Requiem was ordered by Count Franz von Walzegg for execution in memory of his wife, Anna von Flamberg, who died in February 1791. The name of the intermediary who directly placed an order with Mozart became clear: he was the manager of Count Loytgeb. Earl von Walzegg was a music lover, and he himself played the flute and cello ^[1] . The count often performed at home various compositions and theatrical performances by different authors, but he wanted to be considered a composer too, and therefore he repeatedly gave out the compositions ordered from different composers as his own: the count rewritten the scores received from the author with his own hand, and only then gave them to paint on the party. During the first performance of Requiem by Walzegg on December 14, 1793, the score indicated: “Requiem for the works of Count von Walzegg” ( Requiem composito del conte Walsegg ) ^[2] .

Having begun work on Requiem, Mozart repeatedly interrupted it several times for other works: in August, that is, when Mozart did not have time to seriously advance work on Requiem, he received an urgent order for the opera Charity of Titus , which was dedicated to the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia ^[2] . Upon returning from Prague, Mozart first had to work on the “Magic Flute” ^[3] , and then on a clarinet concert (K.622) for Stadler and the Masonic Cantata (K.623). After the premiere of The Magic Flute on September 30, 1791, Mozart thoroughly began work on the Requiem. His zeal was so strong that he was going, even before he finished Requiem, not to take students ^[4] . According to Constanta, at this time, Mozart often complained about his health, and she even had to take away the Requiem score from him, since working on it would adversely affect his health. Constanza said that during one of the walks in Prater, Mozart with tears in his eyes said that he wrote Requiem for himself. In addition, he said: “I feel too well that I won’t last long; of course, they gave me poison - I can’t get rid of this thought ” ^{[K 1]} . However, modern scholars are very careful about the information disseminated by Mozart’s widow, especially if it concerns the last months of the composer's life. In any case, in none of Mozart's letters written shortly before his death, there is no mention of either depression or ill health. On November 18, 3 weeks before his death, Mozart even conducted his Masonic Cantata, and only on November 20 he went to bed. According to others, Mozart continued to work on the Requiem lying down until his death on December 5 .

There is a story that, on the day before death, on December 4, Mozart lying, as well as his friends Schack , Hofer and Gerl sang Requiem, while when they reached the first bars of “Lacrimosa”, Mozart allegedly cried and said that he didn’t will finish this part ^[6] . This fact came from the so-called “message of Shak” and was fixed in many biographies of the composer. Many musicologists agree that this message is not true, because in itself such a performance with the participation of the dying Mozart could have passed only with an improvement in his condition, however, according to the memoirs of Mozart’s sister-in-law Sophie Heibl, on this day Mozart was already at death. Nevertheless, this plot has become popular among artists - almost all paintings reflecting the last hours of Mozart’s life depict a performance of Requiem ^[7] .

Due to frequent interruptions in his work, Mozart managed to write entirely only the first section of Introitus - “Requiem aeternam”. In his usual manner, he completely wrote out all the vocals and bass, and also in particularly important places he outlined the orchestra in the Kyrie fugue and in six parts of the Dies iræ Sequence, with the exception of Lacrimosa, whose autograph ends after 8 bars, to "Hostias". There is also a sketch of the double fugue Amen, which was to follow the "Lacrimosa". Only choral voices are present in it ^[8] .

Fearing that the customer of the work would not only not pay the fee, but would also demand a deposit back for the work that was not finished, after the death of her husband, Constance turned to Joseph Eibler with a request to complete the work ^[9] . Eibler outlined his version of the orchestration of sections up to Lacrimosa, tried to continue Lacrimosa, writing out a soprano part in the 9th measure and refused to work. After this, Constance probably turned to other Viennese composers with a similar request, but they all refused her, and as a result the manuscript came to Mozart's pupil and friend Franz Xaver Süssmeier .

The latter first began to enter his version of orchestration into the Mozart score, adding more and more details to the text already corrected by Aibler. He did a similar job in parts of the sequence, starting with Dies irae and ending with Confutatis. Lacrimosa and Offertorium, fortunately, remained untouched. After that, he began to create his own version of the composition, starting with a sequence. When the work was completed, he simply separated from the Mozartian original Introitus and combined it with his manuscript. He handed this score to Constance in 1792, and she, in turn, gave it to the customer.

For a long time it was believed that everything was recorded by Mozart in this score. This information came from Constance itself, in whose interests it was for Requiem to be considered completely authentic. However, in 1838 the rest of the Mozartian original was found. This autograph was a continuation of the original part of the score transmitted to the customer and included Sequenz up to 9 measures of Lacrimosa, as well as Offertorium. Despite the presence in it of a large number of other people's edits and comments, barbarously inscribed in the score at different times and by different people (at least three: Eibler, Zyusmayr and Abbot Stadler), a quick analysis of handwriting and ink makes it possible to almost completely accurately judge what part of the work was done by Mozart himself. In 1839, Süzmeier's participation in writing Requiem was publicly recognized by Constance.

The question remained, on the basis of what materials were written by Sückmeyer Sanctus, Agnus Dei, as well as a continuation of Lacrimosa, which are absent in the Mozart manuscript. According to Constance, after the death of her husband, she handed over to Süssmeier some sheets from the music stand , on which there were supposedly sketches of the missing parts. This information, as well as the obvious links between Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei and the authentic Mozartian parts, suggest that Süsmeier, when writing his version, had Mozartian sketches of these sections, similar to the preserved sketches of the Sequence and Offertory. Unfortunately, these sketches were lost — they probably remained with Süsmeier or were destroyed by him as unnecessary. One can only guess about their contents based on an analysis of Süzmeier's work. In addition, a very sketchy sketch of Mozart was found in 1962, containing a sketch of 16 measures of the Amen fugue, which was to follow Lacrimosa and complete the Sequenz, a sketch of 4 measures of the Rex tremendae, very different from the final version, as well as an unidentified passage, possibly related to Recordare.

There is also a widespread belief that Mozart, before his death, gave Süssmeier instructions on how to complete the Requiem. The weak side of this version is that after the death of Mozart, Konstanz first turned to Eable and other Viennese composers, and only after that invited Süssmeier to complete the composition.

Despite the absence of any Mozartian sketches of parts of Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, a stylistic analysis of the letter allows in most cases to judge with sufficient accuracy about which part of the work was done by Mozart and which part was done by Süzmayr. So, the first half of Sanctus (before the words Domine Deus Sabaoth) was most likely recorded by Mozart in the choral score (compare the first measures with the beginning of Dies Irae, the chain of descending sextacords in the words of Domine Deus with the beginning of the Masonic cantata KV 623, the soprano passage in the word Sabaoth - with the themes of Recordare and the Fugue Quam olim), however, starting from the words Pleni sunt coeli, the tonal plan becomes quite uncharacteristic for Mozart, which casts doubt on his authorship. Concerning the Osanna fugue, one can only notice that Mozart most likely left an unsaved sketch of the fugue exposure similar to what was written for the Amen fugue. The coincidence of the theme of this fugue with the themes of the quam olim Abrahae fugue and the Recordare theme strengthens Mozart's credibility. However, after the exposition section, the fugue was simply cut off - the topic has never been carried out again (!), Not a single stretch has been written (although the topic is suitable for stretch). Obviously, the person who completed Osanna simply did not know how to write choral fugues. Even in Mozart's youth masses, fugues are much more interesting and long-lasting. The quality of work here betrays Süzmeier.

Concerning Benedictus and Agnus Dei, musicologists agree that Mozart left an extremely incomplete sketch of both sections, in which not all vocal parts were present, and the orchestration was planned very sparingly. The brevity of the orchestral entry of Benedictus, after which the viola immediately enters, is doubtful. The entire development section appears to us as “crumpled”, it seems that only the pretext for the reprise remained from it, and all the previous material was destroyed or simply not written. One of the clear evidence that Süzmeier had Mozart sketches is the beginning of this development section. In the proposed sketch, Mozart probably schematically outlined the solemn wind chords with the unified response of the string group (a figure with a groupetto), citing an episode of Et lux perpetua from Introitus. However, Süsmeier apparently simply did not know Introitus music, and therefore did not understand how to decipher Mozart's schematic notation. As a result, in his version the quote was distorted and lost its original meaning.

A similar situation can be seen in Lacrimosa, starting at measure 9. Despite the individual traces of Mozart's writing, on the whole, even the voice guidance of the choral parts was performed in a much more crude manner than even in Mozart’s youthful compositions. On the other hand, in those sections where most of the text was completed by Mozart and it remained only to complete the filling and duplicating voices of the orchestra, the finer and more transparent Süssmeier orchestration compares favorably with the already primitive work of Eabler.

The exact extent to which Süsmeier is involved in completing the requiem has been the subject of debate to date ^[10] .

The canonical edition of the Requiem, compiled by Süsmeier and being the most common, has the following structure:

• Introitus
  • "Requiem aeternam" is a choir with a part of the solo soprano. Completely completed by Mozart
  • Kyrie eleison - choral fugue. The orchestration as well as the final Adagio are written by Aibler
• Sequenz - in the first five parts, the orchestration is completed by Süssmeier.
  • Dies irae - choir
  • Tuba mirum - quartet for soprano, viola, tenor and bass
  • Rex tremendae majestatis - choir
  • Recordare, Jesu pie - quartet
  • Confutatis maledictis - choir
  • Lacrimosa dies illa - choir, the first 8 measures - Mozart, then Süssmeier; The choral fugue Amen (Amen), scribbled by Mozart, is absent from Süzmeier.
• Offertorium - orchestration completed by Süsmeier
  • Domine Jesu Christe - Quam olim Abrahae Choir and Quartet with Fugue
  • Versus: Hostias et preces - choir, followed by a repetition of Quam olim Abrahae
• Sanctus - allegedly written by Süsmeier based on Mozart's designs
  • Sanctus - Choir, concluded by Osanna Fugue
  • Benedictus - a quartet, then Osanna's fugue is repeated, in Süssmeier it is significantly changed compared to its own version in Sanctus
• Agnus Dei - a choir, allegedly written by Sussmayer based on Mozart's sketches
• Communio : - a slightly modified version of the Introitus section to another text, including Requiem aeternam (starting with the words Te decet) and Kyrie
  • Lux aeterna - choir with solo part of soprano
  • Cum sanctis tuis - choral fugue

General characteristics

Despite the fact that in his youth, Mozart wrote about 20 masses, not counting the smaller works written for the church, over the past 10 years of his life, he turned to this genre only once, setting about creating the Great Mass c-moll. This was explained by the fact that in Vienna, where Mozart lived most of this period, such compositions were simply not in demand, unlike Salzburg, where he regularly received orders for church music. The reason for the creation of the Great Mass, as Mozart himself says in a letter to his father dated January 4, 1783, was also an unofficial order - the composer vowed to write the mass, timed to coincide with the upcoming marriage. He did not fulfill this vow - the Mass remained incomplete.

Thus, when Mozart received an order to write a requiem in the summer of 1791, he had to return to the genre that he had actually left long ago. Naturally, over the years, the individual style of the composer has undergone significant changes, which could not but affect the content of the new composition. As an analysis of the surviving parts of the Requiem shows, Mozart is very far removed from the traditions and ideals used by him in earlier church writings.

Unusual in Requiem seems a lot. This is the complete absence of virtuoso arias and duets, so characteristic of Mozart's youth masses. The orchestra does not include flutes, oboes, clarinets and horns, but the bassethorns are added, firmly connected in the work of Mozart with Masonic themes and giving the orchestra sound a dark, mystical flavor.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, with the development of Mozart studies, all the shortcomings of the parts added by Süsmeier became apparent. As a result, the idea arose to try to clear the music of the “Requiem” from what was introduced by Süsmeier. The main problem was that Mozart’s drafts, the existence of which was obvious, were irretrievably lost, most likely destroyed by Süssmeier himself. However, in the second half of the 20th century , a reconstruction of Richard Monder was created, which attempted to recreate the missing material in accordance with the Mozart style of writing. In particular, Lacrimosa acquired a completely different sound. Strong changes have also been made to Sanctus, Hostias and Agnus Dei. In addition, Monder included in the composition of the Requiem Amen , not used by Sussmayer (this fragment ends with Lacrimosa ).

This version, of course, cannot be considered completely authentic to Mozart’s ideas, which remained unknown. Nevertheless, in general, it is much closer in style to the letter of Mozart himself than the one written by Zusmayr. Due to this, the reconstruction of Monder, sometimes its individual fragments, has recently become more widespread. It was recorded, in particular by Christopher Hogwood , as well as Claudio Abbado (fragmentary).

Requiem score includes:

• Winds : 2 basset horn (in F), 2 bassoons , 2 trumpets (in D), 3 trombones (alto, tenor and bass)
• Drums : 2 Timpani (in D, A)
• Strings : I, II violins, violas , cello , double bass
• Organ

Вокальные партии представлены четырьмя солистами ( сопрано , альт , тенор и бас ), а также четырёхголосным хором .

• Люси (фильм) ^[12]
• Люди Икс 2 (фильм, 2003)
• Росомаха: Бессмертный
• Овод (фильм, 1980)
• Елизавета (фильм, 1998)
• Большой Лебовски
• Иди и смотри
• Revolver
• К чему-то прекрасному (фильм, 2010)
• Ключ без права передачи (1976)
• Древо жизни (фильм, 2011)
• Амадей (фильм, 1984)

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Geistliche Gesangswerke. Requiem, Mozarts Fragment Нотная запись принадлежащих Моцарту фрагментов «Реквиема» с критическим комментарием (на нем. языке) на сайте Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, воспроизведение издания Internationale Stiftung Mozart 1965 года
• Requiem, K.626 Бесплатные файлы нотных записей на проекте International Music Score Library Project
• Requiem, KV 626 Бесплатные файлы нотных записей на проекте ChoralWiki

• Реквием

Comments

Footnotes

• Аберт Г. В. А. Моцарт / Пер. с нем., вступ. статья, коммент. К. К. Саквы . — 2-е изд.. — М. : «Музыка», 1990. — Т. 4. — 560 с. - ISBN 5-7140-0215-6 .
• Штейнпресс Б. С. Моцарт В. А. // Музыкальная энциклопедия / под ред. Yu. V. Keldysh. — М. : Советская энциклопедия, 1976. — Т. 3 .
• Эйнштейн А. Моцарт: Личность. Творчество = Mozart. Sein Character. Sein Werk. / Научн. ed. перевода Е. С. Черная. — М. : «Музыка», 1977. — 455 с. - 12,000 copies.
• Чёрная Е. С. Моцарт. Life and art. - 2nd ed. — М. : «Музыка», 1966. — 376 с. — 55 000 экз.

• О Реквиеме Моцарта
• Реквием Моцарта — на сайте Мариинского театра
• Козырев, В. С. Реквием Моцарта // Издательство: СПб: Пик; 150 страниц; 2003 г.; ISBN 5-86161-116-5
• Реквием Моцарта (К.626) как символ идеоанализа
• Моцарт и Сальери. Марио Корти — транскрипт радиопередачи программы «Культура» (радио «Свобода»)
• Реквием Моцарта прослушать